Die Young
"Die Young" is a song performed by Ke$ha. It serves as the lead single and second track on Ke$ha's sophomore album Warrior. Background Two snippets of the song was posted on Kesha's YouTube channel where the singer sang the chorus on the subway in Japan. Official versions * Album version - 3:32 * Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, and Becky G Remix - 4:03 * Deconstructed version - 3:40 ''Deconstructed'' Mix A stripped down version of "Die Young" was released as a promotional single on November 23, 2012. It serves as the fourth track on Ke$ha's second studio EP, Deconstructed. This remix has been described as a form of relaxed psychedelic-beatless pop, sparking controversy among various social media websites. Gallery Artwork die young cover 1.jpg|Official Cover Die Young REMIX Cover.jpg|Remix Cover die young deconstructed mix cover 1.jpg|''Deconstructed'' cover Music video The video was filmed on September 26, 2012. It was released on November 8, 2012 on Ke$ha's YouTube. The video was produced by Jonathan Craven, edited by Shahana Khan, and the stylist was Scott Barnes. 'Background and release' The video was directed by Chris Applebaum and Darren Craig but Applebaum withdrew his name from the official credits. To promote the single, two teaser trailers were released online. The first showed a waffle waitress holding a slip of paper inscribed with a capital "R", which resembles the official logo of Rihanna, leading to rumors that Rihanna would possibly be featured on the song. The second video appeared online, after the singer tweeted, "Wanna hint?". It displayed Kesha in the Tokyo Metro, whistling the chorus of "Die Young" An official lyric video was posted to Kesha's VEVO account the day of the single's release. On September 24, 2012, celebrity makeup artist and blogger for People Scott Barnes wrote that he was working with Kesha on the music video for "Die Young". On the video itself and the makeup artistry behind it, he said: "... I like to blow people’s expectations away, and that means creating something they’ve never seen before — so stay tuned to see what we come up with." Photographs of Kesha on-set for the filming of the music video leaked online. Jenna Hally Rubenstein of MTV commented: "...Kesha is into wearing basically nothing these days...and it's looking like that no-clothes theme has continued." She compared the leaked photographs and the cover art for the single, further comparing it to Cher's body rope, certain professional wrestlers, and Amazon princesses. Kesha announced that the video would be released the following day on November 7. 'Concept and synopsis' Playing the role of a cult leader, Kesha and her fictitious disciples raid a hamlet in rural Mexico, engaging in various forms of sexual debauchery. According to Billboard, the video is a shout-out to the Illuminati. Occult symbols ubiquitously associated with the secret society such as the all-seeing eye of Horus, inverted crosses, pentagrams, and triangles pervade the video. Calling the imagery "blatant", Billboard reviewed the video as "taking the singer's button-pushing ability to dizzying new heights." Sending text messages to her "Animals" (an affection title bestowed on her fans) in the video, Kesha writes: "We made it… SOUTH OF THE BORDER… they'll never find us here". Lyrics |-| Official version= |-| Remix version= Controversy Due to the Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting, the song was pulled from some radio stations. This sparked "Not Your Fault Kesha" to trend on Twitter. The withdrawal sent out a mixed response online. Responding to the event, Kesha tweeted: "I'm so so so sorry for anyone who has been affected by this tragedy and I understand why my song is now inappropriate. Words cannot express." In a separate tweet, Kesha confessed that she had no control over the lyrical content of the song and was forced to sing it. Despite being credited as a songwriter on the track, she did not contribute to the chorus lyrically, as this part was written by Nate Ruess, although she reaffirmed that she fully resonated with the song's message; the tweet verifying this was later deleted. Before the shooting, "Die Young" ranked number 3 on American airplay charts, but dropped, losing 19 million listeners. A music source told TMZ that such a drastic airplay drop is rare, the last of such magnitude being seen following the Dixie Chicks' criticism of George W. Bush. According to Billboard, other songs that saw decreased radio play in the wake of the shooting included Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" and David Guetta's "Titanium". Her reaction was also filmed during an episode of Kesha: My Crazy Beautiful Life, where she was very upset and felt horrible about the shooting. Videos Ke$ha - Die Young (Behind The Scenes) Ke$ha - Die Young (Lyric Video)|Official Lyric Video Ke$ha - "Die Young" Remix (feat. Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa & Becky G)|Remix featuring Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, & Becky G Ke$ha - "Die Young" (Deconstructed)|Deconstructed version Ke$ha "Die Young" cover by Becky G - @iambeckyg (mixtape) Ke$ha - Die Young - live performance on The X Factor Australia 2012 HD Kesha - 'Die Young' (Live AMA 2012) American Music Kesha - Die Young live Festival de Verão Salvador 2015 Just Dance 4 Die Young - Kesha|The choreography to "Die Young" on Just Dance 4 Trivia *"Die Young" is the only song from Warrior that Kesha performed on The Adventures of Kesha and Macklemore tour. *This song was appeared in the video game, Just Dance 4, making it Kesha's third song to be included in the franchise. 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